During the lead-up to a union election at Wizards of the Coast for Magic: The Gathering Arena, the company allegedly deadnamed a number of transgender employees in front of their colleagues. When confronted about this action, the company apologized, only to do the same thing again the following week during the election itself.
Kotaku has spoken to multiple union-eligible employees who explained the situation. According to them, WOTC and the group of employees filing for a union election agreed on an election to take place this week that would be in-person for in-office employees, and mail-in for remote employees. As a part of this process, WOTC submitted a list of employees eligible to vote to the National Labor Relations Board. Sources say that while WOTC has traditionally been friendly to transgender employees and widely supportive of their chosen names regardless of their legal names, and while the NLRB is open to using chosen names rather than legal names for elections, the list WOTC turned in to the NLRB included the legal names of all employees, including the deadnames of several transgender individuals. That list was then published on an internal website about the election that was accessible to everyone in the company.
Xib Vaine, one of the employees whose deadname was shared with their coworkers, said they found out about what had happened when a coworker messaged them and said they didn’t see their name on the list. “And I was like, ‘That’s weird.’ I went and checked and I was like, ‘Oh, I am on the list. It’s my deadname, which nobody at work knows.’ The way I’ve been describing it to folks, especially folks who are like ‘I don’t really understand the deal,’ it’s like, as a trans person, I just don’t want my deadname out there. It’s like if the company had sent my nude pictures to the entire company, where it’s just very, it’s very violating and it’s—it just sucks.”
Sources say that when confronted, WOTC removed the list, instead opting to send individual emails to eligible employees about how to vote. But then, during the in-person vote taking place earlier this week, it became clear that WOTC had not updated the list with the NLRB. Union elections with the NLRB do not require use of legal names nor showing of ID—they just require employees confirming they are the same person that is on the list the NLRB is given. In this case, several transgender employees were forced to give their legal names to the NLRB representative in front of an observer and in earshot of all others in the room waiting to vote, in order to be allowed to vote in the union election. Employees tell me that during a later voting session, the NLRB representative present made an effort to help employees confirm their identity for voting as privately as possible, but was ultimately still stuck with the list the company had given them.
In response to Kotaku‘s request for comment, WOTC sent a copy of a message shared with eligible members following these events:
Team,
As part of the ongoing union election, in early May we shared a list of employee legal names with the NLRB and CWA as part of the legal process of identifying the bargaining group that would be voting. We did not share preferred names of individuals at that time and instead opted to provide the least amount of personally identifying information as possible while complying with our obligations to provide employee information. That list of legal names was subsequently approved for use in the voting process by both the NLRB and the union representatives seeking to represent Arena workers.
Last week, internally we provided voting directions to the group of employees eligible to vote and it included that same list of legal names. In our rush to provide clear voting instructions, we overlooked the use of legal names and not preferred names in this internal communication. After employees raised concerns about this use, we acted immediately, re-sent the information with employees on BCC, and apologized.
Yesterday, as planned and approved in early May by the NLRB and union representatives, that list was again used in the course of on-site voting and in mail-in ballots sent by the NLRB directly to voting employees. The use of those legal names versus preferred names was part of a legal process. But we understand the emotional toll on the affected employees who may have been asked to validate their legal name rather than their preferred name, or who may receive their ballot from the NLRB addressed to their legal name in the coming days.
Going forward through this process, we will approach this issue with heightened care and ensure that we use preferred names in communications wherever possible and as permitted and approved by the NLRB and CWA.
WOTC did not respond to a further request for clarity as to what “legal process” required the use of legal names. A CWA spokesperson working with the group told me they had reached out to the NLRB regional office in Seattle, which told them they work with whatever list is given to them by the employer, do not require legal names, and have used preferred names in the past if that was what the employer required.
All the transgender employees I spoke to emphasized how hurtful and antagonistic this move felt. They highlighted the difficulties faced by transgender individuals in legally changing their names, and especially mentioned the contrast between how employees were being treated in this election versus how they were normally treated on the Arena team, which they emphasized has historically been supportive of its queer employees. “[I don’t want] to paint WOTC as anti trans,” one impacted employee, who wished to remain anonymous, said. “That hasn’t been my experience. I’ve loved working here so much because of how supported I as a trans person feel every day. The actions here are jarring to me because they are so at odds with the kindness and support I experience daily.”
Sources say the Magic: The Gathering Arena team leadership convened an all-hands meeting yesterday, in which studio leadership formally apologized for what had happened. Two people I spoke to said the meeting was well-received, and was a good start to repairing relations between the workers and management. However, they say they feel that these events have highlighted what seems to be a dissonance between how the leadership on the Arena team communicates with and treats staff, versus how parent company Hasbro writ large and its hired law firm are treating union employees.
“I think it did have such an impact on me because Arena has worked really hard,” Vaine said. “The culture within Arena, the studio, not Wizards of the Coast or Hasbro, but within Arena itself, the direct leadership and my peers have worked really, really hard to create what feels like a very inclusive and safe space to exist as an openly queer person. It feels really comfortable. I have a lot of queer coworkers. Everyone’s an ally, you know, it’s great. And so my walls have been completely down, and I think that because my guard is down, that’s why it was so unexpected and so shocking.”
“I think it is indicative really of, at least from my perspective, the lack of control the Arena leadership has had over the communications that have been going out over the past several weeks,” added Kaylee Rose, who was also impacted by the situation. “And yeah, I am trans as well. There was a period where I was more publicly out as trans and I have been not that visible recently, especially just with the state of things in the U.S., sometimes it’s nice not to be perceived. But seeing the direct harm that was caused here was really painful. And it was frustrating because I have always felt safe here at Wizards on Arena. There’s a ton of queer people working at the company. I have always felt like people are treated with respect and care. And to feel like our company values and this got so easily trampled on has been very frustrating.”
Magic: The Gathering Arena employees announced their intention to unionize late last month. In response, WOTC refused to voluntarily recognize the union and instead moved to an election, ahead of which the company sent out emails to eligible employees urging them to “think twice” before voting in favor of unionizing. The in-person election is complete, and the results will be announced June 23 following receipt of all mail-in ballots.
